Nature does at least what she can to translate into visible form the wealth of the creative formula. By the vastness of the abysses into which she penetrates, in the effort--the unsuccessful effort--to house and contain the eternal thought, we may measure the greatness of the divine mind.
Henri Frederic AmielLife is an apprenticeship to the constant renunciations, to the steady failure of our claims, our hopes, our powers, our liberty.
Henri Frederic AmielThe masses are the material of democracy, but its form-that is to say, the laws which express the general reason, justice, and utility-can only be rightly shaped by wisdom, which is by no means a universal property.
Henri Frederic AmielDo not despise your situation; in it you must act, suffer, and conquer. From every point on earth we are equally near to heaven and to the infinite.
Henri Frederic AmielLove is like swallowing hot chocolate before it has cooled off. It takes you by surprise at first, but keeps you warm for a long time.
Henri Frederic AmielThere are 2 sorts of pride: one in which we approve others, the other in which we cannot accept ourselves.
Henri Frederic AmielHe who floats with the current, who does not guide himself according to higher principles, who has no ideal, no convictions-such a man is . . . a thing moved, instead of a living and moving being-an echo, not a voice. The man who has no inner-life is a slave of his surroundings as the barometer is the obedient servant of the air.
Henri Frederic Amiel